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Kwan: “Over the last few days, tech division discovered a crack into our data stream. It’s the same cyber punks who hacked up before. Somehow they got in again. It’s the Rising Tide…Hello? It got real quiet. You guys still there?”

Raina: “Have you ever heard of Steve Rogers? No. But Captain America, now he’s on the news, On a lunchbox, on a poster on the wall.”

Simmons: “And he plays a lot of Minecraft where he plays a rather nasty mob.”
Fitz: “Is it Zombie?”
Simmons: “Zombie Pigmen.”

May: “When someone breaks into my house I usually don’t invite them to stay. But that’s me.”
Coulson: “That was me too then that alien staff went through my heart.”
May: “Sure it didn’t go through the brain?”
Coulson: “You don’t really do comforting, either, do you?”

Coulson: “Oh crap. They gave him a name.”

Ward: “You can’t save someone from themselves, sir.”
Coulson: “You can if you get to them early enough.”

Skye: “My lifelong search has led to a single document. Redacted…”
Coulson: “…by S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Skye: “No matter what you do I’ll never stop looking.”
Coulson: “You might not like what you find.”
Skype: “It can’t be worse than what I’ve imagined.”
Coulson: “Maybe I can help.”

Mal “The wheel never stops turning, Badger.”
Badger “That only matters to the people on the rim.”

Yes. It's amazing what you learn about an "evil" organization on the other side of the curtain. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does a great job of personalizing a mostly faceless organization. Coulson is going out of his way to respect the individual rights and freedoms as much as he can. Of course he has not always been successful but the fact that he is willing to try - and S.H.I.E.L.D. is authorizing him to try by the extension of not doing anything to stop him - says enough about S.H.I.E.L.D. to me to not call them evil. Skye has discovered this and it has opened her eyes. Perhaps that's one of the reasons Coulson was so lenient on her and allow her to stay. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't have expected Skye to flip sides and become a S.H.I.E.L.D. groupie overnight, could they?

This brings up another question, though. Why did Skye decide to stay? What it because she was starting to become a part of something she thought was special and believed in? Was it solely to have a chance at finding out about her parents? Was it loyalty to her new team? She could have left the bus at the end but she didn't. She voluntarily put on the e-shackle. But why?

I think it's both actually....she's like that girl in the crappy teen coming of age movie who's with the guy to use him to better herself socially....then she grows to actually like then love the guy....then the secret comes out.....and she spends half the movie convincing the guy that she's really attached.....her initial goal was to find out about her parents....but she's found a sense of family....and "belong" here....and having her old BF sell out for the money even pushed that more on her....she lost her comfort zone outside of SHIELD and it's become home to her....you can mess up with family, but in the end they're there for you (ok...bad example since mine tends NOT to be, but I'll stick to the cliche!)...putting on the bracelet of electronic DOOM was symbolic to "I'm willing to take any punishment you want to give me to stay here"....and I'm sure the bracelet comes off the first sign of crisis.....

(I was smck40, but unlike George Lucas, when I write something you can't speak I change...and upgraded....the username!)

"How come EVERYONE can do an awesome rendition of 'All Along the Watchtower'....except for Bob Dylan who wrote the damned song??"

I'm not so sure the bracelet will come OFF. Coulson did say it does whatever it is that they need it to do. I'm sure if they need her to be a hacktivist again that they can just turn the power down on it. Or something like that.

Mal “The wheel never stops turning, Badger.”
Badger “That only matters to the people on the rim.”

I'm not so sure the bracelet will come OFF. Coulson did say it does whatever it is that they need it to do. I'm sure if they need her to be a hacktivist again that they can just turn the power down on it. Or something like that.

Yea - I wondered about that. What happens if she wants to leave SHIELD? Or have a missed something where they explained that is not ever a possibility? And even if she can't - does essentially making her captive by bracelet really promote a trusting relationship? Not that she has their trust right now but eventually she might earn that back right?

WeloveReverendSean!"SAMMYY NUuuuuuuuuuuu gods not sam he is too hot to die take gaeta's other leg!!!" Starblush, February 6,09 9:29pm CST

I've been watching these (albeit a little delayed due to other commitments), and I'm enjoying them for the most part. A couple thoughts:

Originally Posted by Amberite

Solid episode, and it's great that the series is finding it's groove
1. If you have time to sneak up on someone and stab them with two Extremis syringes, you can double-tap them in the back of the head. That way you don't have to hack the ventilation system, thereby providing a nice redemption story for the Rising Tide hacker. You don't also destroy the evidence on that floor. Nice effect and reminder that Extremis is unstable, but at best contrived and at worst weak storytelling.

I thought the point here was to feed two birds with one seed by blowing up the building (and destroying all their lab and materials) and taking out the good-turned-bad guy all in one shot. I don't think it redeemed the Rising Tide hacker at all. I wouldn't necessarily call it contrived or weak storytelling just because it doesn't fit one possible take on the outcome!

Originally Posted by Omra

The "LOOK, look, it is EXTREMIS! Which ties this to the movies." was a groaner. But I suppose there may be something in their contract which forces them to do tie-ins every so many episodes, it happens with comic books and cartoons all the time. So I guess I need to cut them some slack ... I feel no shame in watching this show.

Extremis has been a tie-in from the beginning, so I didn't groan. Creative use of it made it more interesting to me. Also: Totally agree -- I feel no shame in watching this show, either.

Originally Posted by Shooter

Whedon only originally had 6 episodes so this was his big play for the 6 (the series has hence been given a full 22 episode season by ABC). I kind of liked it. It left the larger Coulson mystery on the table to explore while driving deep into the Skye character. She's still on the bus for now and will still be training with Ward. At the end Ward states, "You can't save someone from themselves, sir." And Coulson replies, "You can if you get to them early enough." And with her parent's identity unknown and a redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. report the last tiny lead Skye had, I'm sure there's waaaaaaaaaaay more to Skye than meets the eye - like her innate ability for Computer Science.

I wonder what the bracelet will do in her situation? Just off the top of my head, I can't see it doing the same thing that the other bracelet does (disrupt computer use, I mean, not "whatever we tell it," which it most certainly will do). In this story universe, it could do most anything. The application of it made me question what Skye's involvement will be going forward, which is probably the point. What do you think?

I'm totally with Omra in that I feel no shame in enjoying this. My biggest difficulty is buying into Skye. Sometimes she seems real to me, but other times she seems like that classic Whedon character: the super-thin brunette that's sassy and randomly good at everything without caring about it. It's a big turnoff for me -- and one of the reasons I have trouble getting into most Whedon outside of Firefly (and Avengers, of course), since they're the only shows not focused on this character. Still, it's a lot easier to swallow here because of COULSON. Holy crap, this is the COULSON SHOW. That guy has enough awesome to pull the whole thing together, IMO.

Evil POS is not the same thing as a d-bag. A d-bag is someone that parks in a handicap parking space that is not handicapped. A d-bag is very similar to a jerk. Darth Vader was not a d-bag. -- Steve

I've been watching these (albeit a little delayed due to other commitments), and I'm enjoying them for the most part. A couple thoughts:

You picked a great time to catch up. The next epsiode airs tonight. I rewatched this episode off the DVR while I was running on the treadmill two days ago (Sunday) to keep it nice and fresh in my memory.

Originally Posted by Amberite

1. If you have time to sneak up on someone and stab them with two Extremis syringes, you can double-tap them in the back of the head. That way you don't have to hack the ventilation system, thereby providing a nice redemption story for the Rising Tide hacker. You don't also destroy the evidence on that floor. Nice effect and reminder that Extremis is unstable, but at best contrived and at worst weak storytelling.

Originally Posted by Chuck

I thought the point here was to feed two birds with one seed by blowing up the building (and destroying all their lab and materials) and taking out the good-turned-bad guy all in one shot. I don't think it redeemed the Rising Tide hacker at all. I wouldn't necessarily call it contrived or weak storytelling just because it doesn't fit one possible take on the outcome!

I think the point Amberite made was that by destroying the entire floor, all the evidence pertaining to the investigation into Centipede was destroyed except the limited data Skye was able to extract before they had to evac. And as far as taking him out, Coulson didn't want to do it, but it was his only choice left. If they simply shot him in the head, Coulson had no firm evidence that it would stop the explosion - it was an untested theory in the pilot by Fitz-Simmons, so they had to resort to a controlled explosion build-up through the serum. For the record it did seem a little weak to me as a way to end it, especially given Coulson is trying to save people instead of destroying them or exploiting them at this point.

Originally Posted by Omra

The "LOOK, look, it is EXTREMIS! Which ties this to the movies." was a groaner. But I suppose there may be something in their contract which forces them to do tie-ins every so many episodes, it happens with comic books and cartoons all the time. So I guess I need to cut them some slack.

Originally Posted by Chuck

Extremis has been a tie-in from the beginning, so I didn't groan. Creative use of it made it more interesting to me. Also: Totally agree -- I feel no shame in watching this show, either.

I don't think it's contractual, I just think the ties ins are just good marketing. This sort of thing had been done from Buffy/Angel to Star Trek to ... well ... everything. And fortunately or unfortunately this show is in need of a marketing boost. JJ Abrams' Person Of Interest has consistently been getting twice the ratings of this show so far this year after the Pilot episode. I like the sing of a grand story arc in my shows. It worked well in all of the Marvel movies leading up to Avengers. I see more and more IPs turning to this. Like Star Wars for instance.

Originally Posted by Chuck

I wonder what the bracelet will do in her situation? Just off the top of my head, I can't see it doing the same thing that the other bracelet does (disrupt computer use, I mean, not "whatever we tell it," which it most certainly will do). In this story universe, it could do most anything. The application of it made me question what Skye's involvement will be going forward, which is probably the point. What do you think?

I think the bracelet will be a fail-safe for Coulson, Wade and May to use if needed as well as a tracking device. But if Skye is telling the truth there shouldn't be a need for it. She is going to need computer access in order to be a contributing member of the team.

Originally Posted by Chuck

I'm totally with Omra in that I feel no shame in enjoying this. My biggest difficulty is buying into Skye. Sometimes she seems real to me, but other times she seems like that classic Whedon character: the super-thin brunette that's sassy and randomly good at everything without caring about it. It's a big turnoff for me -- and one of the reasons I have trouble getting into most Whedon outside of Firefly (and Avengers, of course), since they're the only shows not focused on this character. Still, it's a lot easier to swallow here because of COULSON. Holy crap, this is the COULSON SHOW. That guy has enough awesome to pull the whole thing together, IMO.

For me the biggest issue was not Skye being on the show but BEING ON THE BUS. Say whaaaa? You just met the girl and you invite her to live with you on your super secret and capable mobile command center? I liked Coulson's approach to get someone who thinks outside the box but why her? I'll bet you there are plenty of SHIELD Agents that buck the system and are capable. And you know this was at the approval of Fury. He can weigh in at any time and bring an end to whatever Coulson is doing. So that's what I had a hard time buying into.

But at the same time both Fury and Coulson know they've made mistakes and that they've been had before. So perhaps this is their attempt to build a non-super hero capability to get something right for a change. SHIELD must be reeling from the Battle Of New York. And Iron Man 3 wasn't exactly a vote of confidence in the existing system. Something like Coulson's team is a great move - especially with the talented Skye.

I sure hope the Clark Gregg/Phil Coulson storyline doesn't end soon. He is sorely needed on the show. None of the other characters could carry it right now. None. Not even Agent Hill. She just doesn't have Coulson's pananche.

~SO

Last edited by Shooter; November 5th, 2013 at 12:09 PM.

Mal “The wheel never stops turning, Badger.”
Badger “That only matters to the people on the rim.”

Heya guys, looking forward to tonight's new episode and seeing how events unfold after last week! Promo for "FZZT" looked great!

Originally Posted by Chuck

I'm totally with Omra in that I feel no shame in enjoying this.

Right there with you. In truth, I find myself leaning more towards Arrow these days, as I'm waiting for a "hook" with AoS. Something to grab me and either make me identify with it, or just get caught up in. Right now I'm happy simply enjoying it and I'm okay with that, but I'm just hoping for a bit more. The interwebs broke news over the last couple of days that Thor II will have tie-ins with AoS, so I'm kinda stoked for it!

Originally Posted by Chuck

My biggest difficulty is buying into Skye. Sometimes she seems real to me, but other times she seems like that classic Whedon character: the super-thin brunette that's sassy and randomly good at everything without caring about it. It's a big turnoff for me

Again, right there with you Chuck, and Shooter with your comment about letting her onto the bus in the first place. I'm hoping that the revelations in the last episode makes her character seem a bit more real and there is a bit of tension that works back into the relationships.

Originally Posted by Shooter

I think the point Amberite made was that by destroying the entire floor, all the evidence pertaining to the investigation into Centipede was destroyed except the limited data Skye was able to extract before they had to evac.

Yup, this was my primary point -- the opportunity to gather intelligence that they lost by nuking that floor that probably bugged me the most. Although all credit to Shooter, I didn't recall that Skye pulled data from the system before the evac.

“Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.” ― Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time